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Top three things we heard about the C Line (and what we did about them)

It’s been about seven weeks since we launched the RapidRide C Line between West Seattle and downtown Seattle, and there have been bumps in the road. We’ve heard a lot of feedback, and continue to tackle the issues that bug riders most.

We want what riders want: frequent, reliable service, especially during the peak commute. Most days that’s no easy task. Our buses travel the same congested streets and intersections as commuters in cars, pedestrians and bicyclists. We keep working at the problem, and gathering rider feedback, ridership data and reports on how the service is operating.

Below are the top concerns we’ve heard from our customers and what we’ve done (or are doing) to fix them.

82 thoughts on “Top three things we heard about the C Line (and what we did about them)”

I would like to see improvements to the ST560 transfer at Westwood Village. The transfer is not as easy as you might think. Dropping off at the same location as the pick-up makes sence when you have luggage or need to make a tight connection (especially when service on the 560 is limited).

Additionally, the current ST560 stop does not have a bench or a shelter. Moving the stop to a covered location would be a huge help. At a minimum, please make the layover the “first stop”.

Rapid Ride C is as bad as the first day… so full there isn’t even room for passengers waiting at the final WS stop. This is ridiculous. There seems to be little improvement since the first week – causing an even greater level of frustration.
Bring back the 54X!!!

Rush hours and at Admiral Junction I see literally three C lines in a row. Them there won’t be any for half an hour. Completely out of control mess. What is Metro doing with our money, who is in charge?? In a private business heads would roll for this mess created with the schedule change.

It would be very helpful to have the C buses spaced at regular intervals. Because there is no schedule during commute hours (only a planned, average frequency), nobody knows when a bus is on its way. Because the C serves so many people, there’s a pretty steady flow of people walking to any given bus stop. With no way of knowing when the next one will come by, we all squeeze on the first one to show up. It’s not uncommon to find another one (or three, as I saw the other evening) right behind, all nearly empty because we had no idea another bus was just out of sight but nearby. If it’s not possible to have more uniform waits between buses, it’s imperative to have One Bus Away or any other app reflect the true tracking information for the C. If I know, for example, that it will be 25 minutes or so until 2 or more buses show up nearly together, I’ll be more likely to use the one with room. I don’t need to know what the intended frequency is; I need to know what I can realistically expect.

I agree with the comment above about the Route 22 only running once an hour and not being on time. What good is the C line if your bus only picks you up once an hour to get you there. Also for those who depend on it to get to and from work, sometimes late at night, waiting at a stop for a bus an hour can get scarry. With the route being shorter, you would think that the bus would run every 20 minutes instead of going to less frequency of once an hour. Please make it convenient to use the new Rapid Ride C by connecting with it every 15 to 20 minutes via the 22.

I used to be able to take the 113, 120, and 125 to downtown from white center and in an emergency the 23 (which I try to avoid). The 125 was discontinued to white center and the response I have been given 3 times when writing in – is that now we have Rapid Ride to replace it. Only problem – Rapid Ride doesn’t service white center. You changed the route of 120 which makes it longer for those of us getting on in white center and I have found that the extreme increase in ridership has made the rides uncomfortable as well as very frequently delayed. The 113 was what I used to call the “Good Bus.” It is still fine in the mornings, but obviously since it is infrequent, if you miss it you have to change stops to get to the 120. Getting home on the 113 is now terrible. Since it was moved to 2nd Ave, It has yet to be on time ONCE and now most times takes almost twice as long to get home as it used to. The stop on 2nd and Pike is so crowded – it is this mad dash to get to buses and twice I have had the doors closed in my face and been left behind when the driver didn’t notice there were more people waiting to board in the crowd. On average I am spending over an hour to travel less than 7 miles door to door. When I drive it takes me about 20 minutes. I used to be able to count on the bus, as it only had the occasional bad day, but now they all seem like bad days – nothing is ever on time. Last year there was a huge movement to get the people of white center (among other communities) out of their cars and on the bus. I worked hard to change my habits and became a bus rider, but now I find that I am driving more and more and I am thinking that I am going to cancel my bus pass and put that money towards a parking spot.

I have been a Metro bus rider since 1994. I have used the 51, 54, 55, 56, 57, 22 and many other buses at different times. I understand the reasons for adopting RR buses. But I also sympathize with comments above about RR C overcrowding and lack of coordinated transfers to the Admiral District, Where I used to ride the 51 to the YMCA in the morning, I walk now, since it is faster than walking over to California to catch a 50 or 128. I take a RR C from Alaska to downtown. I like the information board that tells me if I have enough time to stop in at Great Harvest. I like the idea of the outdoor card readers and do not mind the fare checker dudes on the bus. I catch the RR C bus from 8:30 to 9:30 in the morning. Often there is a 128 that arrives just prior to the next RR C and discharges 15 or so passengers. This is good timing but more often than not it results in standing room only. And by the time we reach 35th and Avalon it is jammed. I recommend that you (1) install ORCA readers at downtown stops; (2) add a small shuttle bus that runs along California Ave SW all day, more often at peak hours, from Morgan to Admiral Junction areas; (3) install expanded reader boards at RR stations to announce arrivals of the next three buses; (4) ditch the 15-min interval idea and publish fixed schedules for the RR;
(5) train drivers to look more carefully for people getting off and on so as not to close doors on them – it has happened to me several times; and (6) keep up the good work.

I like the seats on the RR C buses and the way the buses ride. That is when I am lucky enough to find a seat.

Route 120 still needs to be re-evaluated. Buses continue to be sevestanding room only as early as the 6:05 bus at Brandon and Delrdige. My husband who works at Harborview and has been a faithful bus rider for the past five years finally gave up and started driving again after the changes due to the over crowding and the unreliablity of the buses in showing up on time.

As a long-time bus rider, I am very unhappy with the changes in West Seattle. The 22 now only runs every hour, and it often isn’t on time. In fact, I’m told the 2:00 pm bus from Alaska Junction leaves at 2:07 pm, but this hasn’t been reflected in any of the schedules, and it then throws off all the afternoon buses. The distance between stops on the C is way too long for seniors and for those concerned with safety after dark in the winter. The seating on the C is awful for seniors. You either have to sit facing sideways or walk to the back of the bus to try and get a front-facing seat. The High seats are a nightmare for seniors and short people. Getting off the bus is dangerous for seniors. The steps at the middle and back doors are much too high, and often require a leap to the curb. We are told to use the front door, but if the bus is crowded, it is often very difficult to get to the front door. The drivers get snooty when you ask them to use the kneeler. Also, the middle and rear doors have closed on me more than once when the driver didn’t see me. These are an accident waiting to happen. Drivers seem to have no visibility as to what is happening in the bus. Another accident waiting to happen. The lack of a C schedule is awful, since it is impossible to plan on connections to buses like the 22 or 128 that run infrequently.

If Metro is going to go through the effort to build fancy new stops dedicated to the C and D lines, at least put up working reader boards at every location. The southbound stop at 15th and Market has absolutely no reader board so you have no idea whether you’ll be waiting 10 minutes or the typical 25-35 minutes around rush hour in the evening. If you’re going to suck, at least have the common courtesy to let us know by how much so we can do something more valuable with our time, or better yet drive.

I am a former rider of the 133 direct to the UW. Please reinstate this bus. Having to go downtown on the 21X or C Line causes my commute now to be 1-2 hours due to having to transfer to a 71,71,73 in the tunnel. Those are usually standing room only and many times in the evening so jammed that buses pass several stops leaving waiting passengers behind for a bus with some space. The C Line in particular is not “Rapid” but overcrowded and very uncomfortable with hard seats. At night sometimes I see “C” buses headed downtown from Westwood empty and your former arguement for eliminating the 133 was it was losing money. Sorry! but empty “C’ Line buses lose much more. The 133’s only 4 each way per day were usually full or close to it. Maybe your schedulers should try riding the bus so they can experience the real world and hear first hand how unhappy most riders are!

For North Admiral…too many 55’s, 56’s and 54 routes were taken away. I try to use public transit whenever possible, but it’s just not feasible to take a bus that’s going to take 45 minutes to an hour to get downtown…when I can drive it in 10-15 minutes… PLEASE bring back more of these routes during non-peak hours and weekends and you will get many loyal North Admiral bus riders back!!

PS– It also wouldn’t hurt to run the water taxi on the weekends during the winter…I would have loved taking this to the Seahawks game (10 min ride) compared to 55 minutes….

The mornings are working much better for me now. The added 55 works well and is not overly crowded. The timeliness of the bus in the morning (catching the bus at Charlestown and California) is off, often 5 or more minutes. That should improve, I assume, in time. The evenings are still not working for me. I often go home from downtown after the 55 buses stop running so I get the C line. I have never been at the junction when a 50 or 128 is leaving in less than 15 minutes. On one bus away, I have missed a bus several times in 7 or less minutes. This is frustrating as the connections to the Admiral area need to be better for this to truly work well. We need coordinated schedules for the rapid ride. My hope is this will improve too. The rapid ride is still a great idea, just too many hiccups to date. Coming from downtown today at 3 pm, the bus driver allowed some on at 2nd and columbia, but didn’t ask people to move back and so saw the bus as full and closed the doors and went off. I had already waited 10 minutes, so had to wait 15 more for the next bus. Not a good performance there either. Also at the 2nd and Columbia stop, having a person swipe cards seems an expensive venture. Faster yes, but is a card reader coming to that stop soon?

suppoe this explains why the 56 is NEVER on time, not on the survey, not even on the radar of the planners. also, with the people scanning cards of the bus that do not correspond to any routes, how is that supposed to help with route planning?

I’m wondering why you have designed these nice new bus stops, added benches for people to sit on then, in a rainy climate, didn’t put the benches undercover, but out in the open? This doesn’t make any sense. Those benches are virtually worthless more than half the year.

I used the C line from the Fauntleroy Ferry Terminal going to the Seattle Center (Key Arena). When looking up the schedule we were told that we would have to change downtown, but once on the C line bus found out that the C turned to D line and went directly to the Key Arena.. It was fantastic. It was so easy and direct and we didn’t have to hang around that scary bus stop downtown or wait in the rain and wind. Thank you. It made our day!

Admiral Area needs a bus that goes directly to downtown (the 56). Because the 56 was eliminated, but commute time to work was increased by 30 minutes due to the new transfers I need to make. I would also frequently take the 56 mid-day and it always seemed to be used by many, even not at peak hours! If so many of us were using it frequently and reliably, why eliminate the mid-day buses?

How was it decided that going from West Seattle to Ballard was the route that was needed? Why not go direct from West Seattle to the U-District? Granted this would help me, but I can’t be the only UW student living in West Seattle. It would even make using the rapid ride tolerable with all of it’s overcrowding.

I live in White Center and used to have 3 buses to downtown that stopped near my house. Now I have to hike multiple blocks to catch 2 of them and the 3rd was obliterated. Even if you created a stop on Henderson between Delridge and 16th (like it says on your website…it doesn’t actually exist) it would service my neighborhood MUCH better.

Thank you for adding some more buses. However, more are needed – the C Line is still way too overcrowded in the evenings. Tonight I let two that were standing-room only go by (downtown after 6:00 pm) and waited for the 21 instead. The interior of the Rapid Ride buses is very unpleasant, with most seats being sideways and having to sit with people looming over you (if you are lucky enough to get a seat). The extremely bright vertical fluorescent lights in the middle of the bus ensure a headache if you’re sitting behind them. In addition, it’s way too far between some stops (.6 miles from 35th & Findlay to the Junction, .6 miles from Fauntleroy Church to 35th & Barton). But above all, THE RAPID RIDE ISN’T RAPID. It takes exactly the same time to get from 35th & Barton to 3rd and Madison – 35 minutes – as it did the #54. The #54 local needs to be reinstated in order to (1) provide service again between 35th & Barton and White Center, and (2) make the bus accessible for those who can’t walk the long distances between Rapid Ride stops.

I used to take the #55 downtown from Charlestown and California Avenue…one bus…now it’s two buses, transferring at the AK Junction…these changes have forced me to put my car back out on the road (be sure Mayor McGinn and King County Council hear this!) parking at the AK Junction and then waiting an indeterminite amount of time for the next C Line ( the sign says 12 min., then 11 min., then 8 min., then 11 min., and finally 3,2,1 min.??) You have really messed up the commute for those of us who don’t travel early morning/late afternoon. Oh, and those guys who check transfers…they remind me of gestapo…had to show my transfer twice from West Seattle to Ballard. Personally, I think you’ve wasted a lot of money tearing down perfectly good bus shelters and replacing them with glitsy new C-Line shelters, “high-tech” gagetry that malfunctions, and given us buses and schedules that don’t serve us well. I used to enjoy my commute, and now I use the bus only when I absolutely have to. And standing up on the new buses and trying to steady yourself with one of those overhead straps is downright dangerous…also, trying to get up from a seat not near a post is tricky…I have to wait until the bus is at a complete standstill before I attempt it. On one of my trips, getting off through the back door proved dangerous as the driver shut the door before I was completely clear of the bus. And I’m just one person…can’t imagine what those folks south of the AK Junction think of the new “dis-service” you’ve handed us.

I appreciate Metro’s attempt to reach out to their customers. It’s a good sign.

I actually have a major complaint about route 120. I have ridden this route every work day for the past couple years and, despite what Metro wants the public to believe, it is almost always at max capacity. I live in North Delridge and rarely is there a time when I don’t have to stand up for the remainder of my trip to or from downtown Seattle.

The recent change has made the problem even worse.

Where there used to be 3 or 4 people that were forced to stand, there are now 20+. We’re all crammed together like a bunch of sardines.

Additionally, I pick up the 120 on Columbia and 2nd, and in the time I have to wait for one 120 (which is usually about 25-30 minutes) I’ll see 2-3 Route 55’s, 54’s, C’s, etc.

I’m not sure what exactly exacerbated the capacity problem nor the case of the missing busses but one thing is for sure: we need more buses on route 120.

My neighborhood may not have the same net worth as those living on the west side of 35th in West Seattle (how many bus lines do they have now?), but I’ll be damned if we don’t have an equal or greater need for bus lines.

To a lifelong bus rider like myself the dramatic changes to Metro are very discouraging. When you stand back and study the overall theme, it is one of cutback, force the commuter to become uncomfortable, and engineer riding so operational cost saving, not service, is Metro’s new standard.
The Rapid Ride, in a nutshell, stinks. The three door coach eliminates seating, and the seats left are like hard chairs in grade school. Metro prides itself on stating that more people can stand — well, we are paying through the nose to stand up? Please. I almost wonder if the cattle cars to Dachau were any more uncomfortable.
Now I’ll bring up the unmentionable: bring back some of the old routes, like the local 18. I do understand the need for revising the system and making it more cost effective — but not at the cost of making the very source of your revenue, your core constituency, miserable. Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. Bring back some traditional local routes but only on a more spread out and limited schedule. Compromise between cost slashing and customer service.

On the EastSide, Metro uses 1/2 buses to,shuttle people from Redmond, the Microsoft Campus, and Bellevue Transit Center. The same thing could be used from White Center, along California Ave, to the Admiral area. The new service really make Metro travel by seniors and the disabled much more difficult and inconvenient than before. I’d hate to,see people going back to driving their cars as a result of the lack of service the new system has created.

The continuation of the C line as the D line to Ballard is great, but needs to be faster. I would eliminate lower Queen Anne and have the D go to Western then 15th straight to Ballard like the 17X, 18X, and 15X. That would probably cut 10 minutes off te trip. Ther also need to be better shuttles from 15th to Market, especially during peak rush hours.

RapidRide is a really good idea, but still,not well executed. In addition to more frequent buses during peak hours, I would make the following suggestions.

1. At 35th and Avalon, the buses should immediately get on the West Seattle Viaduct, eliminating Avalon Way. Same thing on return. Avalon Way customers can be served by the
21 and new 50.

2. RapidRode drivers need to know that they are a special line and they make only express stops. Too many of the drivers are confused, making stops atold 54 local sta,,slowing down service.

3. Making the C do the loop at the Junction is stupid and wastes time. Instead have the buses come down California to Alaska, turn right to downtown. It might mean making a RapidRide downtown st at Jefferson Square.

4. Service between White Center and the Admiral district has been obliterated. The 55 and the old Rt. 54 should be combined to shuttle people between both areas to the RapidRide.
No need for either to go downtown.

5. The 22 is now an almost useless line. Service once an hour is rediculous! It could also be used to shuttle people between White Center and the Admiral,District, running every 15 minutes. Coming from Westwood Village, it should continue on Thistle to California, shuttling people all the way to Admiral.

6. Service is now inneficient and congested to downtown and you’ve eliminated tons of service within West Seattle on California.

Unfortunately, it’s a great idea that’s turned into a mult-billion dollar fiasco. Having no pay stations on Third just doesn’t make any sense and slows the system down. I have faith that Metro will get it right!

OnBusAway support is key. Seattle riders have become accustomed to using this service as a quick way to anticipate when to leave the house/office/etc… We are too reliant on the technology for metro to abandon support on its new “rapid” ride. A bus being late is much more excusable when it was expected to be late. Walking to the stop to find out if it’s late or not is not acceptable with today’s technology.

I agree with the commenter above, and would add that the severe reduction in service to Genesee Hill has pushed me into my car, adding to the congestion on the bridge. It seems like the focus on RapidRide (with all of its challenges/opportunities) has taken away from service to those of us who live north of the Junction.

West Seattle wants to keep the secure neighborhood feeling of getting away from the urban congestion, but also wants stellar transportation service. It really does need a transit hub. Sorry if that sounds too urban, but there it is.

In the first days of Rapid Ride our bus sat at 35th and Avalon – on the way INTO town during rush hour in the morning! Was this a fluke or SOP? That sent me right back to the old days of metro milk run busses keeping “on schedule” and taking forever to get anywhere. Experienced commuters know the pressure points in traffic and we sit on the bus knowing traffic is building, while we wait for… what?? I don’t know anyone who would complain about getting downtown “EARLY” – by a minute or 3 – in the morning. Such a small thing, but really impacts perceptions of having a rapid ride.

There is absolutely no service to/from Genessee Hill outside of the peak morning and afternoon commutes. If I have to stay downtown after 6:10, I am out of luck. My option is to ride the Rapid Ride to the junction, and transfer to a 55 or 128 to get to Charlestown, then walk about 9 blocks.

Rt 21E evening buses are continuously late at the head of the route — 3rd Ave at Virginia.
Particularly, the last run scheduled for 6:05 departure, is usually ore than 18 minutes late. Sometimes as much as 40 minutes before arriving to start the run. Drivers tell me they are transiting from Northgate via I-5 in stop and go traffic. Perhaps transiting Aurora would help?

I live in Admiral Area so have only taken C line midday one time and it was efficient. My main concern for Alki/Admiral riders is the lack of a direct bus line outside the rush hour. Drivers have been very patient with the exception of one.

Please bring back Route 22, or at least one route (in addition to route 50) that uses the 1st or 4th Ave exit from the West Seattle Bridge. There’s nothing “rapid” about the buses that take the SR-99 viaduct.

I abandoned Rapid Ride after two weeks – 1-1/2 hours each way to the University District and with no schedule, transfering buses downtown is a guestimate! I now drive to 45th & Stone to catch the 44 across to UWMC. Total commute time in the morning 40 mintues and even with heavy traffic on 99 coming home I’m home in an hour! There is nothing Rapid about Rapid Ride!!

I catch the 120 at 3rd & Virginia just after 5:30 p,m. Mon-Fri heading to West Seattle. When I board the bus it is virtually empty. By the time it leaves the next stop at 3rd & Pike, it is 3/4 full and sometimes totally full – standing room only – , and by the time it leaves the final stop at Columbia, there is generally no room for anyone else, yet the boarding assistant somehow puts more people on.

The solution is obvious, you need two 120’s running together, and one day last week, this actually happened. Result, everyone got a seat. I suspect that the back-to-back experience last week may not have been planned, but boy did it work.

When the C bus eventually shows up, usually a swift (faster than before!) efficient ride downtown, and the new arrangements for tapping Orca cards are helpful. New bus lanes on 99 a big improvement. But wait times often well over 20 minutes even in mid-afternoon (unacceptable and not what you advertise), and arrival times of buses don’t necessarily coincide with posted times. Waiting for bus after dark downtown continues to be anxiety-provoking (open harassment especially of waiting female passengers). I would pick water taxi over bus any time (when given choice, which is generally not an option in winter), because water taxi runs on fixed schedule, is almost always on time, and no one has EVER harassed me, threatened to kill me, exposed himself, or masturbated in plain sight while I was waiting in line or transiting on water taxi. Unlike the bus.

We need One Bus Away to call ahead and plan when to go to the bus stop. Not everyone has access to a computer or smart phone to use Metro Tracker. This is critical for the Rapid Ride C and D lines because we don’t have the benefit of a schedule.

The Rapid Rides need dedicated lanes so that the buses do not get stuck in traffic. During morning rush hour, I see the RR C line stuck behind cars waiting to get on the northbound SR 99 ramp. The local route (50 from Alki to Othello Station) makes better time than the RR C on the West Seattle Bridge during the morning rush hour because it uses the dedicated bus lane to 1st Avenue. Metro and SDOT need to work together to provide more dedicated bus lanes in the city or Rapid Ride will never live up to it’s promise. Current traffic problems are bound to get worse, at least judging from the new apartments with parking that are being built in West Seattle. Unless the city can find a way to give transit more priority on the roads. How about real transit malls in West Seattle and Ballard? Every other “town” in the Seattle area has one. No street parking between Edmunds and Alaska on California, make it a transit mall. Let the cars drive detour around this section of California Ave SW instead of the Rapid Ride.

The idea of Rapid Ride is great but it was executed without enough cooperation from the City. SDOT needs to get with the future and re-engineer traffic patterns in places like the Alaska and Morgan Junctions.

Still not enough buses. Standing room only during rush-hour. Also, buses arrive at irregular intervals, especially leaving downtown. It seems that boarding takes way longer nowx as people have to pay as they board downtown (where the highest # of people board at once). It would be faster if you could pre-swipe your Orca card at the downtown bus stops, just as you can at the West Seattle bus stops.

You missed out “give us a schedule!”. Every other metro route (including those running at 15+ headways) has a schedule. Cheap and easy way to improve rider experience. It is totally clear to me that a 15 min headway is not frequent enough that “you don’t need a schedule”. Why not do it, now? Please.

Running the Rapid Ride C line “every 15 minutes” is not a schedule. There is no scheduled arrival times for the bus so I wind up waiting an indeterminate amount of time which makes my travel time unpredictable. Adding in the time it now takes to walk to the Alaska Junction, wait for a bus to show up my travel time is now much worse than it was with the 54 line. This is not an improvement in service. I am retired and try to avoid commute hours so adding additional buses during the commute hours does not help me. The buses do not run every 15 minutes, get backed up and travel in packs which defeats the whole purpose of running more buses.

I also don’t like the seating configuration which has fewer seats and many less seats perpendicular to the aisle which I prefer. Providing more standing room is not an improvement in service.

Boarding time particularly downtown can be an additional 5 minutes of waiting. Overall, Rapid Ride C is a reduction in service, an increase in travel time over the 54 line.

I don’t ride the bus every day, currently several times a week, since I ride my bicycle on most days and try to telework several times a month. My typical route is getting on the C or 55 at the Alaska Junction or at Alaska & Fauntleroy and riding to 2nd and Seneca. My solo bus ride last week was on a C Line bus on Weds 11/14 – I got on about 8:45 am at the Alaska Junction and the bus was already packed; there had obviously been a 10+ minute wait, as I waited at least 8 minutes, no other bus was visible as I walked up and there was already a fairly large crowd waiting. The bus was completely full by the time we reached Alaska and Fauntleroy and unable to take passengers at the last 2-3 stops.
My concern is that there still seems to be inadequate service and the large gaps/breaks between buses create the overcrowding situations. It also seems like the routes are not totally synched to actual commuter rushes – yes, quite a few people commute between 6:30 and 8:00 am, but there are also many people who don’t go into the office until 9 or 10 am, partially to avoid heavy commutes, and it seems like there is still lack of service during those times. My bus commutes the past few months have been discouraging enough that I try to avoid that mode, and continue riding my bicycle (which is more challenging in the winter weather/darkness) or taking the water taxi (which now also doesn’t have a commute time later than 8:45 am)
Anyway, I appreciate that Metro is trying to address the situation, but the level of service is still not near where it was with the 55, 54 and 54x in my opinion.

I often to past downtown, The rapid ride drivers don’t seem to know how to get to Wallingford. The bus used to go there. One driver sent me to Aurora to catch the No. 5. The bus signal light at the first stop is broken and the bus didn’t stop.

I haven’t noticed that boarding is easy and fast, especially in the city. It takes forever at some stops for everyone to load. You say that there is more floor space by design but all this does is make it more difficult to get out because of standing people who aren’t getting out. It would be better if Rapid Ride buses had more seats and the seats were comfortable. The seats are hard and smaller.
And why are these new buses breaking down? I have experienced this twice!
I hate that the C-line is never on time. Each day the bus arrives at a different time. My bus comes at 6:02am some days, 6:05 some days and 6:10 others. This might not seem like a lot but minutes count when you are waiting and don’t know what time to be at the stop and the minutes count especially if you have to transfer in the city. I often miss my transfer bus then have to wait 10-15 minutes for another. I seem to be getting up earlier and earlier every day just to get to work on time. Why can’t we just have a schedule like we used to? I can’t get to work at the same time, do you expect your employees to be on time? The buses will come a few minutes apart and then nothing.
I am sick of the crowding and it isn’t due to more ridership, but because of all the routes that don’t exist now making more people ride the C-Line. I know many people who are driving now because of the inconvenience and I am thinking about it too. I don’t know why you ever changed our service it was perfect before. I hate Rapid Ride but have no choice but to ride it. Thankfully I can catch a 116 on the way home. It might be a longer route but the bus is more comfortable and with all the crowding on the C-Line, the 116 beats it home.
I keep wondering with all the money spent on new buses and now adding more to the line, did we really gain anything financially? This isn’t going to make Seattle a better city for transportation. My last point, it would be nice if the people who make these decisions actually commuted by bus every day.

Why have you eliminated buses to the Admiral area during non peak hours? There are many of us who travel mid day and to have to transfer now to get to where we used to on one bus is very inconvenient and for some a hardship.

Thanks for putting back some of the 55 buses that were eliminated. For those of us who live between the Admiral district and the “Junction”, it makes more sense to hop on to a 55 and ride all the way to downtown. This shortens my commute considerably and relieves crowding on the Rapid Ride, too. 🙂

Cutting the 22 to once an hour instead of increasing it so people can take advantage of catching the RR C in and out of downtown makes no sense at all. A bus that runs once an hour to connect with a bus that arrives every 15 minutes isn’t helpful. The return home is even worse with up to an hour wait to connect with the 22. Put the 22 back to every 25 minutes and every 15 minutes during peak hours.

I live on 36th Ave SW between Roxbury and Cambridge. I can catch the 21 Express at 35th & Cambridge headed for downtown during AM commute with no problem. However, the 21 Express leaving downtown Seattle during the PM commute is EXTREMELY LATE and unreliable. If I switch to the RapidRide C line, which is more reliable and frequent, there is no stop EASTBOUND on SW Barton or WESTBOUND SW Roxbury within decent walking distance of my home.

Is it possible to put a RapidRide C line stop on EASTBOUND Barton BEFORE the intersection at 35th Ave SW?

I’ve seen changes and for that thanks but we also need a bus stop by 35th Ave Sw and Roxbury St. The distance between stops is 0.7 miles and it is not in a straight line or a flat surface, also the sidewalks do not have ramps and as a daughter of a disabled parent I worry. I hope we can enjoy more of this new Line C route.

I have been shocked at how crowded the C-Line busses are from and to West Seattle, even during off peak hours. Nevertheless, people were spoiled by the former system. Now, everyone needs to be more aware. If one is unable to stand, ask for a seat. If one is seated, look up from your gd phone and give up your seat if needed. After all, it’s only a 9 minute ride from downtown to Alaska Junction. People here need to be more assertive and learn proper bus ettiquete and stop moaning. Although, no one should be left at a bus stop. The bus drivers need to be less passive and advise standers to move to the back of the bus.

I live in White Center, so the Rapid Ride lines do nothing for us. All we got from these changes was the loss of our direct service to the U District (133), and the loss of direct access to/from our other local neighborhoods (Georgetown, South Park) after 8pm (the 131 being moved to 4th Ave and skipping South Park completely; and the 60 being the only direct route now, and it stops running early in the evening). Our one commuter bus (113) runs very limited hours, especially getting back to WC in the evenings (if I don’t want to be on an hour long bus ride home, I have leave work by 5:20 to catch the last 113 of the day), and it is always full plus some.

I do like the pay once system, and not having to keep track of going back up and paying a second time if I pass through a zone. The exit from the rear theory could still use some work (what about doors like the buses in Portland have, where you just push them open yourself to get off in the back?).

If you want people to use transit, you’ve got to make it efficient and easy to use. Nothing else is going to get folks out of their cars. Frequent, fast,and reliable service is the only way, and you’ve got to make it easy to use/understand all of the time. All the weekend vs. weekday vs. holiday vs. this version of a route only goes to here but a bus with the same number sometimes goes to here stuff – it’s gotta go. Frequent, fast, and reliable – express buses that loop main areas of neighborhoods. I want to not have to use my car ever except to do big errands and/or road trips.

So I can’t believe there aren’t any concers about the “D” line. it seems to me that a lot of the same problems exist with it. The bus timing is no where near consistent. I can wait anywhere from 1 minute to 25 minutes for a bus during rush hour. I’m talking southbound, morning rush hour. I just find it hard to believe that it can’t be more consistent.

C Line is useless to me. We need 56 local back! I have to go 45 minutes to get six miles to work. I have to transfer three times or ride the bus eternally to the train. The water taxi helped but now only runs at very likited times. Getting downtown on week ends is very problematic. Today I got on a bus that was an hour late and waited for 15 minutes for a transfer before sloshing to work where I sat with pants drenched to knees. Transfers in winter are not cool. The 56 local used to get me all the way to work in one shot. I was using Zipcar but Seattle Metro is forcing me to buy a car. Seems like the opposite of what should be.

I live at 28th Ave SW and SW Roxbury. When coming from downtown Seattle, the C and #21 now end at SW Barton and 29th Ave SW. This means to get home I have to walk through Roxhill Park (something I don’t do after dark) or wait and transfer to a C line or #21 to get a few blocks home. There are usually 2 C line buses waiting when I get off from downtown and it seems like a long time to wait to make the transfer and get home. I’m not sure if there is a solution to this but I wanted to let you know about this problem.

The C line is used to connect to and from various routes. The “comes so often you don’t need a schedule” is ridiculous. The routes the C line connect with are on a specific schedule, so it is difficult to catch a connecting bus when you don’t know when the C line departs or arrives. If you walk upas the C line is departing, it is not uncommon to have to wait 10 minutes or more for the next bus. That is more than enough time to miss a connection.

What about Route 56? The busses, especially at 8:00am, are over crowded. And they don’t run in the afternoon anymore. How about using larger busses and extending the current schedules another hour or so. The last trips to downtown should be around noon and the last trip from downtown to West Seattle should be 8-9pm.

We greatly appreciate everyone taking the time to share their feedback–this is very helpful information. We’re in the process of reviewing all of the comments and preparing responses. We’ll be sure to post updates as we get them. In the meantime, please keep the conversation going.